How To Grow In The Gift Of Prophecy by Pastor Dolapo Lawal: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Why You Can Learn to Prophesy

Numbers 11:24-30

Moses gathered seventy elders around the tabernacle, and the Spirit came upon them and they prophesied. Eldad and Medad, however, had remained in the camp, not around the tabernacle, and the Spirit came upon them there too — proof that prophesying was never tied to physical proximity to the tabernacle but to being separated and set apart, a picture of the new creation. Joshua asked Moses to forbid them, and Moses answered, "Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them." God's plan was never that only one man would carry this gift.

The Hebrew word for "prophesied" there is naba — to deliver a message with content, the same word used of Isaiah and Jeremiah.

1. God confirmed the elders as teachers

   The people had complained about manna and craved meat — unbelief. Putting the Spirit on the seventy confirmed their teaching grace, so they could speak to the people out of their own unbelief, just as Moses did.

2. God lightened the burden of ministry

   Numbers 11:14-17 — Moses said he was not able to bear the people alone, so God took of the Spirit that was upon Moses and put it upon the seventy to share the burden. Prophesying is an act of service. They prophesied after being enlisted to God's work, not the other way around — you are enlisted, then equipped, not equipped in order to qualify. It was not their effort or their asking; nobody earned it. It was given.

1 Corinthians 14:3-4

He who prophesies speaks edification, exhortation, and comfort to men, while he who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. The functionality of the gift is mostly from God through you, for others. A person unwilling to put themselves out there to use the gift for others will have it but find it non-functional. Boldness matters as much as anointing — a bold person will outdo a merely gifted one.

Desire the Gift

1 Thessalonians 5:20

Do not despise prophecies. Fake prophets exist only because there are original ones — there is no such thing as counterfeit currency for a currency that doesn't exist. Rejecting the prophetic because of a bad experience means muting God — not that He has stopped speaking, but that the conversation is going on and you have decided not to listen.

• John 4 — Jesus told the woman at the well she had had five husbands, and the one she was now with was not her husband. That word of knowledge caused her to call Him a prophet.
• Daniel 2 — Nebuchadnezzar demanded not just the interpretation of his dream but the dream itself. Daniel asked for time, then received it in a night vision — what scripture calls a dream.
• Revelation 1:19 — Jesus told John, "Write the things which you have seen." Writing is a sign of faith — carrying paper to pray tells God you expect Him to say something worth recording. A dream life that isn't stewarded by writing tends to grow weaker.

Two or three should judge a prophetic word — believers are led by God's Spirit and God's word, not by any single person's prophecy. A word should confirm what is already settling in a person's own spirit, not override it.

Mastering the Art of Waiting

A nudge from God, especially about direction or a decision, should not be acted on immediately. Give it time — a genuine burden from God intensifies like wine the longer it sits; a false impression fades within hours. You miss God by disobedience, not by being late — disobedience requires a clear instruction that was refused. Prophetic people must master the art of waiting; scripture's bands of prophets are pictured with instruments, waiting for the Spirit to come upon them rather than prophesying at will.

2 Samuel 5:18-23

David inquired of the Lord before fighting the Philistines and was told to go. When the Philistines came again, even though he had won the same fight before, David did not rely on the previous word — he inquired of the Lord again. He never assumed on past instruction or experience.

Matthew 2

An angel told Joseph to carry the infant Jesus and flee to Egypt, and to wait there until told otherwise. Even for the Son of God, some battles required retreat rather than confrontation — obedience to a specific instruction, not presumption.

1 Samuel 13:8-14

Saul waited for Samuel the appointed number of days, but when Samuel did not arrive and the people began to scatter under pressure from the Philistines, Saul offered the burnt offering himself rather than continue to wait. Samuel arrived immediately after. Saul told Samuel, "I felt compelled" — pressure moved him to act outside his instruction. Samuel told him he had done foolishly and had not kept the commandment of the Lord, and that his kingdom would not continue.

There is divine speed, but there is no divine delay. Arriving late while waiting on God still carries the advantage of divine speed to recover the time; running ahead of God builds a Babel, or an Ishmael, that a person's own household later has to contend with. The child of the bondwoman still has to be dealt with by the child of the free woman.

Before angels come to minister, the counterfeit often arrives first — the inferior offer that looks good until the real thing is seen. When a nagging sense that "there is more" will not settle, that is a signal not to settle for what is being pressured onto you. Deadlines, pressure, and urgency from other people are not evidence of God's timing.